Curiosity Can Be A Necessary Evil - 1812 Words

Curiosity can be a necessary evil. Certainly, being inquisitive leads to the accumulation of knowledge, which brings about progression and improvement, but it has its drawbacks. This is a very important theme in the story Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. In the story, Frankenstein went in pursuit of the â€Å"elixir of life† (Shelly Web). He wanted to find a way to give and restore life (Shelly Web). Frankenstein did discover a way to perform such unhallowed arts, but ultimately it led to his ruin (Shelly Web). He lost all that he loved and much of his sanity before his death (Shelly Web). Yet he was not the only one destroyed by his curiosity. The monster he created was at first content, reveling in the wonders of nature, but he sought out†¦show more content†¦The earliest form of natural science was alchemy. The most common first thought when alchemy is mentioned is turning elementary metals into gold. However, there is much more to it than that. Near the time of 100 AD is when alchemy first began in the western hemisphere, specifically Alexandria, Egypt, the joint of Greek and eastern cultures (Encyclopedia Americana Vol. 1: 510). One of the most popular theories that lay the foundation for alchemy was that of Aristotle, written about the 4th century BC (510). That is the theory that heat, cold, moisture, and dryness are the base characteristics of all matter, and they combine to create the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air (510). Frankenstein more than certainly incorporated these ideas in his chemistry experiments. Although at first he left the medieval books alone and followed the new ideas of the modern scientists of the time, after professor M. Waldman presented him with an open mind, he reverted to the primitive ideas of chemistry (Shelley Web). Of course, today most ideas from this branch of science are rejected, such as translating metals to gold. But it was the earliest form of the branch of science known as natural science, which Frankenstein studied at the university Ingolstadt (Shelly Web). The essence of the natural sciences surrounds the natural, physical world and the occurrences thereof (Merriam-Webster). It is no surprise that this was the basis of Frankenstein’s studies. From a very